The number of people without work rocketed by 128,000 as the UK slides ­towards a ­double-dip recession.

Grim figures delivered a pre-Christmas blow to the Government with youth and female unemployment showing the biggest rises and the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s allowance soaring for the ninth month in a row.

David Cameron was accused of betraying an entire generation as youth unemployment shot up to 1.03 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

The news comes as iconic travel giant Thomas Cook added to the gloom by announcing more than 661 job losses and 125 more shop closures while high street retailer La Senza called in the accountants to carry out a restructuring.

Employment fell by 63,000 in the quarter to October to 29.11 million, while the number of people working in the public sector dipped below six million for the first time since 2003.

David Cameron was accused of betraying an entire generation as youth unemployment shot up to 1.03 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

The unemployment rate is now 8.3 per cent, up 0.4 per cent on the quarter – the highest since 1996 – while the jobless total is now worse than at any time since 1994. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds increased by 54,000 to 1.03 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

At the final Prime Minister’s questions of the year, Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron was “betraying a whole generation of young people”.

Mr Cameron responded by insisting the private sector had created 581,000 jobs since the Coalition came to power, while 336,000 had been lost in the public sector. But he admitted it needed to grow “even faster”.

“The reason that ­unemployment is going up is because we are losing jobs in the public sector and we are not making them fast enough in the private sector,” he added.

As Mr Cameron spoke, activists from the Right To Work campaign staged a protest outside Downing Street.

The Office for National Statistics also reported that women’s unemployment shot up by 45,000 to 1.1 million, the highest figure since 1988.

Martina Milburn, chief executive of youth charity The Prince’s Trust said the latest figures revealed a gaping hole in the job market for young people.

The ONS figures showed that Jobseeker’s allowance claimants increased by 3,000 last month to 1.6 million.

The number of economically-inactive people, including students, those on long-term sick leave, looking after a ­relative, or who have given up looking for a job, fell by 54,000 to 9.33 million.

Public sector employment slipped by 67,000 in the third quarter of the year to 5.9 million, including 59,000 in local government and 9,000 in the civil service.Private sector employment increased by 5,000 to 23.1 million.